Shah Abdul Karim Bulri: A Passionate Sufi Poet of Sindh

Shah Abdul Karim Bulri (1536-1623) was a renowned Sufi poet of the Sindhi language from the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Shah Abdul Karim Bulri was the great-grandfather of the popular poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Life

He was born in a Sayyed family in the place of Matiari, currently in Eastern Sindh. Since he spent most of his life in the area of Bulri, a village in the Tando Muhammad Khan, the word Bulri is mostly appended to his name. As his father left the world when he was very young, he was brought and bred by his mother and elder brother Sayyed Jalal. From childhood he took a much interest in matters regarded to God and spirituality and mostly did not pay attention to the education taught in school and rather than spent his time immersed in the thoughts of God. He frequently went to mystical gatherings in his village where Sufi songs combined with rural music were sung. This influenced him so much, that little by little he initiated to compose his own Sufi songs.

Later, Shah Abdul Karim married as per the desire of his elder brother, however he himself thought that marriage might hinder his way towards God. He met a Sufi in his regional mosque named as Sultan Ibrahim and influenced by him became his disciple and follower. After the death of his elder brother, to look-after his family, he became a laborer as per the suggestion of Sultan Ibrahim. After Sultan Ibrahim left for performing the religious pilgrimage i.e. Hajj, Shah Abdul Karim came in close link with another mystic named as Makhdum Nuh and came under his instructions. The insistence of Makhdum of formal observance of the Shariat (Islamic law) helped temper the increasing mystic fervor of Shah Abdul Karim.

Shah Abdul Karim enforced a very stringent discipline on himself which some persons around him knew of. He used to do work in the day with interludes for prayer. In the time of night, he was used to walk around the streets filling any earthen pots he saw empty. As he grew older, he wrote various spiritual poems in the language of Sindhi and utilized them as a device to reflect his love for the Divine. During his old age, he was greatly honored by the persons and had a number of disciples and devotees.

His poetry and malfuzat appeared for the 1st time in Bayan-al-Arifin, a Persian work, written by a follower he had later in his life named Mir Daryai Tharawi, in the year 1630, 7 years after his death. 1 of the major poets of Sindhi, Shah Abdul Latif has been termed as the Chaucher of Sindhi Literature.

Poetry and beliefs

Shah Abdul Latif provided a pantheistic meaning to various Quranic expressions like,

• He is the 1st, He is the last, The Apparent and the Hidden (57:3)
• Wheresoever you may turn there is the face of God (2:115)
• Every moment he discloses himself in fresh glory (55:29)
• He is nearer to you than your jugular vein (50:16)

Shah sang, Separation and union are one and the same, God, the best of proposers, will unite the lover and the loved one. Shah Abdul Latif was aware of the works of Ibn Arabi and his doctrine of Wahdat-ul-Wujood and deployed his complete life on those principles. He wrote nearly 93 books.